Does fear of failure keep you from starting exploring new ventures?
Have you ever asked yourself, why online success comes easily to other people, but seems to be eluding you all the time?
Have schemers driven you to the point of giving up?

My advice is short, sweet and to the point: You need to know that, it’s always too soon to quit! Remember quitters never succeed.

Successful people hang in there, they get back up when they fall and try again. You see, your friends who have become Online Success Stories didn’t throw in the towel and quit when the going got tougher, NO, No , No! They knew what they wanted in life and they wanted it badly enough to persevere through the desert, and what happened: They got to the other end. They paid the price and achieved their Online business dream. You CAN too ,only if you don’t quit on yourself and your internet venture.

Remember: It’s always too soon to give up. In other words, Never Give Up until you get the results that you after.
All the best!

Howard Mahere

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In the course of operating their businessess entrepreneurs meet challenging situations on a daily basis. However, its how they react that determines their altitude. It is very important for the business owner to know the value of challenges. That challenges are meant to make us strong, many of the great achievers we see today turned obstacles into stepping stones and in the end became successful beyond measure.

Today, I have decided to share a story which I am sure will help to make us appreciate the role of obstacles in our different situations . Lets learn to welcome challenges for our own growth.

Positive Approach

By: Author Unknown

A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lighting.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child.

Following the roar of thunder, lightning, through the sky and full of concern, the mother quickly got in her car and drove along the route to her child’s school.

As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl stopping, looking up and smiling.

Finally, the mother called over to her child and asked, “What are you doing?”

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The president of the Marshall Islands survived a no-confidence vote after senators derided her plan to launch a national cryptocurrency. The nation is moving forward with the endeavor despite criticism from the IMF.

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine looks to have a clear mandate to keep pushing forward with her proposed state-backed cryptocurrency after navigating through a no-confidence vote.

Reporting by the Nikkei Asian Review says the island’s head of state survived since parliament was in a 16-16 deadlock over the decision. Her opponents were one vote short of toppling her from the presidency. The decision to vote came after a collective of eight senators accused Heine, who has been president since 2016, of damaging the nation’s reputation with the idea of a national cryptocurrency.

AN INNOVATIVE VISION FOR A NATIONAL CRYPTOCURRENCY

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Heine’s goal is to introduce a virtual currency dubbed the ‘Sovereign’ to the Marshall Islands, while giving an equivalent status to the United States Dollar.

March, officials said they teamed up with an Israeli company called Neema to issue 24 million Sovereigns. At the time, half of the coins were set to go to the government and six million would be available for global investors. Officials in the Marshall Islands were reportedly interested in a state cryptocurrency after Neema said the endeavor could net at least $30 million.

Funds raised due to global investment in the Sovereign would go towards projects related to anti-global warming and be distributed to people affected by U.S. nuclear testing on the island, according to Deutsche Welle.

Bitcoinistreported that same month how the Sovereign would have a framework that would see user identities be known on the blockchain so funds could be easily verified.

Officials hoped people in the nation would use the Sovereign for a variety of tasks, including for the payment of taxes and the purchase of groceries.

REMAINING RESOLUTE AMID GLOBAL PRESSURE

Heine has welcomed the digital currency as a “historic moment for our people” and has referred to it as “…another step of manifesting our national liberty.”

Leaders in the Marshall Islands have expressed complaints and concerns about a lack of currency controls. This is especially so since the bulk of their revenue comes through aid from the United States, as well as tuna fish licensing paid in U.S. Dollars.

Heine’s futuristic financial vision attracted the attention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which released a report in September that warned the country against launching the cryptocurrency.

The IMF said the issuance of a digital currency “[…] would increase macroeconomic and financial integrity risks, and elevate the risk of losing the last U.S. dollar correspondent banking relationship.”

Marshall Islands Finance Minister Brenson Wase said after the no-confidence vote the government would push forward with the virtual currency and will wait to meet requirements from the IMF, Europe, and the United States.

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Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has quietly begun signing up a limited number of customers for its yet-to-launch bitcoin trading product.

Citing a source familiar with the matter, The Block reports that the 149-year-old Bulge Bracket bank has onboarded a “small number of clients” to actively trade the derivative, a non-deliverable forward, which is a cash-settled product that is comparable to a futures contract but does not trade on an exchange. Additionally, the bank continues to consider launching custody services for cryptoassets.

Notably, the publication’s source also contradicted an earlier report from another crypto site which alleged that Goldman Sachs was “actively exploring the creation” of a non-deliverable forward for ether, the native asset of the Ethereum platform. That would have been a major stamp of approval for Ethereum, as well as altcoins in general, as it seeks to achieve the level of Wall Street exposure that bitcoin has begun to see over the past 12 months. However, the source said that the bank is not pursuing the creation of an ether derivative.

At present, bitcoin derivatives are available on several regulated US trading platforms, including options exchanges CME and CBOE. Both of these firms offer cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts, and each has given investors reasons to believe that they will expand their crypto offerings in the future. CBOE, on its part, has outright expressed its desire to remain a leader in the cryptocurrency derivatives marketplace, while CME has launched an ether price reference rate but in public statements has been less-than-enthusiastic about the crypto industry.

LedgerX, an institutional crypto derivatives platform that currently offers a suite of bitcoin products, is reportedly building out support for ether as well, pending approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Meanwhile, Bakkt, a crypto startup launched by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is preparing to launch its first bitcoin futures product, which is scheduled to begin trading on Dec. 12. Unlike the contracts available on CME and CBOE, Bakkt’s bitcoin product will be physically-settled, meaning that actual bitcoins will change hands when the contracts expire.

In the course of its analysis, Glassdoor examined a large number of online U.S. job postings on their site containing keywords related to blockchain, Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency. To ensure more accuracy, the company also included more general blockchain-related terms, while excluding jobs from third-party recruiting firms. To estimate salaries, Glassdoor used its “Know Your Worth” instrument.

Per the report, as of August 2018 there were 1,775 unique blockchain-related job openings in the U.S., while at this time last year there were 446 similar job ads, which represents a 300 percent year-over-year increase.

The highest proportion of job openings is concentrated in 15 cities, including New York City and San Francisco, with 24 and 21 percent of total job ads respectively. They are followed by San Jose, Chicago, and Seattle, with 6, 5 and 4 percent respectively. The top 15 cities together constitute 79 percent of blockchain-related job ads in the U.S., while the remaining 21 percent are distributed across the rest of the country.

The most in-demand blockchain roles are primarily technical and engineering, with software engineer as the clear leader, comprising 19 percent of total job listings. More broadly, engineering, technology, and science roles represent 55 percent of total job openings.

Despite the leadership of tech roles, Glassdoor notes the need for analyst relations manager, product manager, risk analyst, and marketing manager roles as well. Notably, such roles as traders and investment analysts are not listed in the top 15 occupations.

In terms of predominating employers in the field, Glassdoor highlights blockchain software technology firm ConsenSys and IBM, with over 200 related job openings each, as well as crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, tech company Oracle, and fintech firm Figure. Professional services giants Accenture and KPMG are also hiring blockchain-related roles. Glassdoor noted the absence of job openings from Facebook, Google and Apple.

Glassdoor’s “Know Your Worth” tool revealed that the median base salary in the blockchain field is $84,884 per year, which is $32,423, or 61.8 percent, higher than the U.S. median salary of $52,461 per year. In total, salaries range from $36,046 per year to $223,667 per year. Per the report, higher salaries are explained by the location and nature of the jobs available, while high skill occupations like software engineers already require high salaries.

In August, Cointelegraph reported a 50 percent increase in the number of roles related to blockchain or cryptocurrencies in Asian markets — Australia, India, Singapore and Malaysia — since 2017, where developers skilled in the Python language programming are among the most coveted applicants.

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The president of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim has stated that distributed ledger technology (DLT) has “huge potential” and that the bank should keep pace with innovative technologies. Kim spoke at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Banks’ Annual Meeting in Bali, Indonesia Oct. 11.

Kim addressed the importance of fighting poverty while boosting prosperity, pointing out that “there are innovations in the technological world that can help us leapfrog generations of bad practice, generations that would take forever in terms of reducing corruption.” Kim said:

“We talked about cryptocurrencies, but we think distributed ledger has huge potential and we issued the first blockchain bond in August, where we created, allocated, transferred and managed the entire bond through blockchain technology.”

Kim further noted that the deployment of blockchain helped the group reduce paperwork and costs, adding that it is “something that can be extremely helpful” in the future. He admitted, however, that the bank has not been keeping up with all the latest developments, particularly in a way that would help their customers take advantage of the “great things that are coming out.”

According to Kim, the World Bank’s goal is to develop universal access to financial services by 2020 which, in his opinion, will not happen without deeper engagement with the technology world.

As previously reported, the World Bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) issued a public bond exclusively on a blockchain. The $73.16 million deal entails two-year bonds that reportedly settled Aug. 28 and have been priced to yield a 2.251 percent return.

Following the positive results of the blockchain-platform, Arunma Oteh, a treasurer at the World Bank, stated that the bank “will continue to seek ways to leverage emerging technologies to make capital markets more secure and efficient.”

Notably, the World Bank President has previously expressed criticism towards digital currencies. Speaking with CNBC in October last year, Kim shared his bullish views about blockchain technology, while noting the risks of blockchain derivatives like Bitcoin. He stated then:

“Blockchain technology is something that everyone is excited about, but we have to remember that Bitcoin is one of the very few instances [of blockchain’s use in currency]. And the other times when blockchain was used they were basically Ponzi schemes, so it’s very important that if we go forward with it, we’re sure that it’s not going to be used to exploit”.

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The prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, told the United Nations that cryptocurrency is “the inevitable future of money” on September 27 — reiterating his faith in Blockchain technology.

THE ‘BLOCKCHAIN ISLAND’ REVEALS ITS CARDS

Speaking at the organization’s 73rd General Debate, Muscat, who has presided over Malta’s official pivot to become a so-called ‘Blockchain Island,’ championed digital innovation and its regulation.

“Blockchain makes cryptocurrencies, the inevitable future of money, more transparent, since it helps filter good business from bad business,” he said. “But these distributed ledger technologies can do so much more.”

As part of Blockchain Island, the Maltese government has signed agreements and partnerships with emerging businesses including a raft of cryptocurrency exchanges to provide pioneering financial products and services registered in the country.

As Bitcoinist has reported, platforms Binance and Huobi have spearheaded the trend, the former signaled in July it would attempt to form the world’s first decentralized tokenized bank using Malta as its base.

Muscat had personally welcomed Binance to his jurisdiction when the exchange relocated there earlier this year.

FORGET ‘BLOCKCHAIN-NOT-BITCOIN’

At the UN, he noted the necessity of the decision to become “the first jurisdiction worldwide to regulate this new technology that previously existed in a legal vacuum.”

From medical records to aid to government data handling, he continued, blockchain spawns numerous ways in which the world can “counter regressive and reactionary politics.” He forecasts:

States will need to move from hoarding information on citizens to regulating an environment where citizens can trust the handling of their own data.

Muscat’s tying in of Blockchain and cryptocurrency provides a breath of fresh air from the perspective taken by many international governments, which favor Blockchain’s potential but demonize cryptocurrency altogether.

The approach echoes that advocated by cryptocurrency proponents, specifically Andreas Antonopoulos, who has publicly stated that a ‘Blockchain-not-Bitcoin’ mentality tells the world that someone “doesn’t understand” either technology.

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Less than a fortnight since his appointment as Zimbabwe’s finance minister, the new treasury boss is potentially placing himself on a collision path with the country’s central bank with his pro-cryptocurrency stance.

According to Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe’s newly minted Minister of Finance, cryptocurrencies could assist the southern Africa country to solve the cash crunch that has been ongoing for the last two years. Towards the realization of this, Ncube has promised to nudge the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe(RBZ) into establishing a cryptocurrency division that will be tasked with assisting the country’s apex bank to develop a better understanding of digital assets, IT Web Africa reported.

Role Model

Ncube cited the example of Switzerland where the European country’s central bank has adopted a more progressive stance on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies saying Zimbabwe should copy this example.

“One can pay for travel using bitcoin in Switzerland. So, if these countries can see value in this and where it’s headed, we should also pay attention,” Ncube said. “We have innovative youngsters so the idea shouldn’t be to stop it and say don’t do this, but rather the regulators should invest in catching up with them and find ways to understand it, then you regulate it because you now understand it.”

With banks imposing a cap on amounts that depositors can withdraw, the severe cash shortage in Zimbabwe has been worsened by the fact that savers tend to hold on to their money rather than entrust it with the financial institutions. And as the economy gets more dollarized, the cash shortages have been further exacerbated with the result being that foreign currency reserves are also dwindling.

Dramatic Reversal

If Ncube is able to convince the RBZ to set up the cryptocurrency unit it will be a 180-degree turn for Zimbabwe’s central bank which has taken an anti-crypto stance. As CCN reported in May this year, for instance, banks in the country were prohibited from processing cryptocurrency transactions for both investors and traders of the nascent asset class citing risks and dangers associated with them include their use in money laundering and other illegal activities.

“Further, cryptocurrencies can be used to facilitate tax evasion as well as externalization of funds in violation of a country’s laws,” the RBZ wrote in a circular to financial institutions at the time.

Though a High Court in the country’s capital later reversed the ban, the regulatory uncertainty has forced some of the cryptocurrency exchanges such as Golix to explore other markets in Africa to avoid overreliance on the Zimbabwean market.

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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat classified Malta’s efforts to become a crypto and blockchain-friendly jurisdiction as a “calculated risk.” So far, work by authorities to turn Malta into a world leader for both industries looks to be paying off.

A variety of nations across the world have spent time investigating how they can control and manage the spread of blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Malta has been moving in an encouraging direction for a while now.

A number of prominent exchanges, namely OKEx and Binance, have moved to the tiny Mediterranean nation. The Maltese Parliament was hard at work over the summer approving legislation concerning crypto and blockchain.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has also been very bullish when it comes to virtual currency. He remarked in April how cryptocurrencies are the “inevitable future of money.”

When asked in a recent interview about the variety of steps the island has taken to become a blockchain and crypto powerhouse, Prime Minister Muscat noted efforts were “a calculated risk” to help further diversify the economy.

AGGRESSIVE STEPS FORWARD

According to Prime Minister Muscat, part of this risk-taking includes slashing “layers of bureaucracy” and making it easy for entities in the blockchain and crypto world to come and set up shop in the country.

Malta has long been an attractive destination for digital companies due to the open stance of many government officials. Additionally, the island also features low tax rates, and the nation’s stock exchange is currently speaking to companies about listing virtual assets.

Officials are also collaborating with PricewaterhouseCoopers to roll out blockchain licenses for regulated entities. Parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri said these would be issued in November.

All of these industry-friendly policies seem to be engendering a sense of optimism on the island, even if questions about future regulation are still up in the air.

In the interview, Prime Minister Muscat said how Malta is a trailblazer when it comes to regulations for the crypto world, and speculates the EU might one day be “doing what we are very much doing right here today.”

Michael Binanchi, chairman of the Founders Bank, toasted Malta as the “blockchain island” at a recent dinner.

THE ROAD AHEAD FOR MALTA

Some believe Malta’s open policies could continue to attract a variety of forward-thinking entities that could really shake up the financial world.

The Huulk digital exchange applied for a license in Malta in late August, and has a focus on attracting listings from fintech startups that are Sharia compliant. Ultimately Huulk is keen to list around 20 firms, many of which are located in nations like Turkey and Malaysia.

The ability to tap into religiously-sensitive investors across the world is thought to be a big opportunity for an exchange like Huulk. The same goes for Malta, especially since the nation’s Bianchi Holdings Limited would be an equity partner if the license is approved.

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Millennials are more optimistic about the chances of cryptocurrency being widely accepted, and nearly half of who think this would prefer using cryptocurrency over the U.S. dollar, according to a recently conducted consumer survey on awareness of and attitudes about cryptocurrency.

Nearly 80% of Americans (79%) are aware of at least one type of cryptocurrency, according to the study by YouGov Omnibus, a research firm that conducts online nationwide surveys.

Cryptocurrency awareness was higher among men than women for nearly all types of cryptocurrencies mentioned. Twenty-seven percent of women were unfamiliar with any cryptocurrency, compared to 16% of men.

More than a third (36%) of all respondents said they believe cryptocurrencies will become widely accepted for legal purchases in the next 10 years. Millennials, more than any age group, were more likely to believe this (44%), compared to 34% of GenXers and 29% of baby boomers.

A nearly equal number (34%) said cryptocurrencies are not likely to be widely accepted in 10 years.

Millennials More Likely To Use Crypto Than Dollar

Among those believing cryptocurrencies will become more accepted, millennials are nearly evenly split between using cryptocurrency in place of U.S. fiat (48%) and not doing so (50%). This makes them the most likely group to use cryptocurrencies in place of the U.S. dollar.

More than a third (36%) of all respondents who think cryptocurrencies will become more accepted said they would be more likely to use a cryptocurrency in place of U.S. fiat. The majority (57%), however, said they would not choose to use cryptocurrency over the U.S. dollar.

Usage Remains Low

A hefty 87% of those who are aware of bitcoin have not used it in any way. Nearly half (49%) of those who are aware of it said they were glad not to have purchased it and have no plans to do so. Fifteen-percent said they regretted not buying bitcoin at an earlier time, but think that time has passed. People 35 to 54 years of age were more likely to express this sentiment, as 21% of them said they wish they had purchased bitcoin, compared to 11% of those 55 years of age and older.

The perception of cryptocurrency’s use for illicit activity continues to cloud the way many people view it. A quarter of the suvey respondents said they believe cryptocurrencies are more often used for illegal purchases, compared to 17 who think they are more often used for legal purchases and 19% who say they are used both legally and illegally.

Hispanic Americans more often believe cryptocurrencies are used for legal purchases.

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U.S.-based crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase is looking to create a cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the help of the Wall Street investment management giant BlackRock, according to a Business Insider report September 6.

Coinbase has reportedly “held conversations” with $6 trillion asset manager BlackRock’s blockchain working group, Business Insider reports, citing “sources familiar with the matter.” The proposed crypto ETF reportedly discussed is aimed to allow retail investors to gain access to volatile crypto markets. Meanwhile the report states that it “remains unclear whether the talks were a one-off or part of ongoing conversations between Coinbase and BlackRock.”

Earlier in August, Coinbase announced that the company would reduce its Index Fund’s annual management fee “for all new and existing investors” from 2 to 1 percent, Cointelegraph reportedAugust 13. Coinbase stated that the move was intended to “help introduce a new category of institutional investors into the cryptocurrency space.”

On Aug. 22, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denied applications for nine separate ETFs submitted by three applicants. However, on August 23, the agency made a statement that it would review its decision of all nine ETFs, though it has yet to release a deadline.

Iconiq Funds, the asset management arm of Germany-based Iconiq Holding — the team behind the ICO and token sale accelerator program Iconiq Lab — is launching a series of digital asset index funds beginning in Q4 2018, the company announced on Aug. 17, 2018. Investment into crypto assets will become available through traditional and regulated financial vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

The first digital asset index fund is planned to be launched under Maltese jurisdiction as a Professional Investor Fund (PIF). It is currently under review by Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).

The company claims the “diversified exposure to the digital assets market” as a key selling point for this new series of instruments. An investment fund essentially hides the intricacies of crypto assets from its participant, offering participation in a selected group of tokens. An investor expects that, even if some tokens of the group won’t perform well, the growth of others will compensate for it.

Iconiq Funds says the company will offer its financial products under the supervision of a governmental watchdog — such as MFSA for Malta. The team explains that, for many conservative investors, the lack of regulatory oversight was a key reason to avoid exposure to crypto assets.

Maximilian Lautenschläger, Iconiq Holding’s managing partner, believes that such investment vehicles could help bring new capital to the crypto industry from the traditional financial markets. “Iconiq’s aim is to make ICOs and crypto investments accessible to institutional investors, family offices and retail investors. Only through such regulated vehicles can we open the doors for the trillions of capital from institutional markets to enter crypto.” Lautenschläger said, according to the announcement.

Digital asset management token

The company says that Iconiq Funds is not merely a traditional asset management firm that started trading in crypto. It is, rather, a part of a larger, community-driven ecosystem that Iconiq Holding has built around its own token, ICNQ — initially released by Iconiq Lab. The ICNQ token functions as a “decentralized VC club membership instrument.” According to Iconiq Funds, its holders receive access to presales of companies graduating Iconiq Lab’s token sale accelerator program. It can also be used as a voucher instrument for payments within the asset management ecosystem created by Iconiq.

“We have successfully positioned the ICNQ token as the token for digital asset management,” said Iconiq Holdings CEO Patrick Lowry. “ICNQ tokens can now be redeemed in our ecosystem for products and services provided by Iconiq Holding companies, including by our digital asset index funds to pay asset management fees to the fund manager, Iconiq Funds. We are excited to add this new value-driver to the ICNQ economy, with many more to come for the benefit of our community.”

According to the internal memo Cointelegraph had access to, Iconiq Holding will be selling up to 10 million remaining ICNQ tokens, with a public token sale taking place on the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange Grid in October 2018. The ICNQ token will then be traded on Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange after the sale, with more exchanges to come.

Iconiq says it plans to capitalize on opening the crypto marketplace to a completely different, and much more powerful class of investors, which may bring “a tectonic change” to the crypto market. Also, it hopes the ICNQ token itself will have the potential to become a kind of derivative instrument that would reflect the influx of the virtually unlimited capital from the outside world of traditional finance into the much smaller crypto ecosystem.